Dickson's Strike Lifts Canada Over Iroquois in Thriller

In a game for the ages, Curtis Dickson scored a game-winning
goal with 19 seconds remaining on the clock, lifting Canada to a
9-8 win over the Iroquois Nationals in front of a capacity crowd on
Sunday night in FIL World Championship group play.

The winner came off a feed from Jeremy Noble, who drew a
double-team as the final minute of the game wound down that left
Dickson alone right along the crease, where he was able to turn the
corner and beat Iroquois goalkeeper Warren Hill.

"That was just kind of a broken-down [play]," Dickson said. "We
ran a set piece and got nothing, and the rest was 100% Jeremy
Noble. I just got to the right place and was lucky enough to be
able to finish it off."

For there to be a heroic moment at all was due to a huge
comeback from the Iroquois, who were down 6-1 at the half and 8-3
late in the third quarter. Five straight goals, the last on a
man-up strike from Craig Point (1G, 1A) to Randy Staats (2G),
knotted the score at eight, setting up eight minutes of nail-biting
back and forth action before Dickson finally won back the advantage
for the 2010 silver medalists.

Besides Dickson's three tallies and Noble's goal and two
assists, Canada was led by two goals and two assists by Adam Jones
on offense, and a huge night from goalie Dillon Ward, who stopped
ten shots from the Iroquois sharp-shooters, including some
point-blank looks that helped Canada maintain its early lead.

"He was phenomenal," said Canada head coach Randy Mearns. "[The
Iroquois] can hum the ball, and he was making split saves, and
having them go off his toe. It was really a goaltenders
battle."

Hill actually had one more save than Ward, stopping 11 on the
night despite having to backstop while Canada had 10 extra-man
opportunities on the game. They only struck on one, while the
Iroquois hit on two of five chances.

Lyle Thompson anchored the Iroquois offense, scoring three and
assisting on another, truly taking things over once he was moved
from midfield to attack in the second half. Miles Thompson and Cody
Jamieson chipped in with a goal and an assist each, as the
Nationals rallied behind strong support from the crowd of over
6,000 to claw back into the contest despite such wide deficits in
the second half.

"I'm full of confidence with these guys," said Iroquois head
coach Steve Beville. "It's a big moment to know that we had [a
chance to win], but we made too many mistakes and the other team
scored one more goal.

"You can't put yourself into a hole against the Canadian world
team, but I feel like we showed we were not only capable of playing
them, but outplaying them in parts of the game."

Both teams moved to 2-1 in group play, leaving them tied with
Australia behind the United Stats (3-0) and ahead of winless Japan
and England with two games left. Action continues Monday with the
Iroquois facing 2010 third place winner Australia in a key game for
knockout placement and Canada taking on Japan. On Tuesday, Canada
will close out group play with Australia while the Iroquois take on
Team USA.

"We know we have some things to improve on, and we start that
[today] against Japan," Dickson said. "We know we're probably going
to see these guys later on, but games like this are going to help
us grow as a team."